We have succeeded in helping people to live longer.Now we need to help them to live better.

The project PERSONAL ROBOTIC ASSISTANTS FOR THE ELDERLY is an
inter-disciplinary multi-university research initiative focused on
robotic technology for the elderly that brings together researchers
from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

The goal of our project is to develop mobile, personal service robots
that assist elderly people suffering from chronic disorders in their
everyday life. We are currently developing anautonomous mobile robot
that "lives" in a private home of a chronically ill elderly
person. The robot provides a research platform to test out a range
of ideas for assisting elderly people, such as:

Intelligent Reminding: Many elderly
patients have to give up independent
living because they forget. They
forget to visit the restroom, to take
medicine, to drink, or to see the
doctor. Our project explores the
effectiveness of a robotic reminder,
which follows people around (hence
cannot get lost).

Tele-presence: Professional
care-givers can use the robot to
establish a "tele-presence" and
interact directly with remote
patients. This makes many doctor
visits superfluous. Our robot is
a platform for tele-presence
technology that connects patients
with care-givers through the Next
Generation Internet (NGI).

Data collection and surveillance: A
range of emergency conditions can be
avoided with systematic data
collection (e.g., certain types of
heart failures). This reason alone
can make service robots succeed in
the home care business.

Mobile manipulation: Arthritis is the
main reason for elderly to give up
independent living. A
semi-intelligent mobile manipulator,
that integrates robotic strength with
a person's senses and intellects, can
overcome barriers in manipulating
objects (refrigerator, laundry,
microwave) that currently force
patients to move into assisted living
facilities.

Social interaction: A huge number of
elderly people are forced to live
alone, deprived of social
contacts. The project seeks to explore
whether robots can take over certain
social functions.

Two factor suggest that now is the time
to establish mobile robots in the
home-care sector: First, for the first
time we actually have the technology
together to develop robots that exhibit
the necessary robustness, reliability,
and level of capability. Second, the
need for cost-effective solutions in
the elderly care sector is larger than
ever before.

If successful, this project could change
the way we deliver health-care to the
ever-growing contingent of elderly
people, and it could significantly advance
the state-of-the-art in mobile service robotics
and human robot interaction.